Don’t get me
wrong; I like dogs, but I was concerned that the cuteness of a handful of
puppies was all that Pick of the Litter might provide as appeal. Oh boy, was I
wrong. Following the journey of five puppies on the road to becoming guide dogs
for the blind, the film provides an empathetic and educational glimpse into the
two-year process. And there are cute puppies.

I’ve always been
a sucker for a well-made revenge film. This may be why South Korean cinema has
such appeal, with these narratives creatively showing up in a variety of genres.
While there are also a consistent stream of American revenge movies, they haven’t
really been innovative or original since the 1970s. These days we mostly get
cheap remakes of those brutal classics (such as Death Wish and I Spit on Your
Grave), and those that aren’t just imitate the expected story points in the
most generic of fashion. Peppermint is
exactly this type of film, and might as well have just been titled Female Death Wish.

Continuing the
tradition of the franchise with mindless obedience, the latest installment in The Marine series is indistinguishable
from the rest, with the exception of a single twist that is more likely to
impact future sequels than this one. Following the original theatrical film
starring John Cena and its first sequel with a relatively unknown WWE cast member,
each future installment has starred Mike “The Miz” Mizanin as former marine
Jake Carter. Whether working private security, as an EMT, or simply on
vacation, Jake always seems to be in the wrong place at the right time,
allowing him to use his training to save lives.

Based on the
Chinese folk hero Di Renjie (known as Judge Dee in a series of western mystery
novels), Detective Dee was clearly intended as an Eastern Sherlock Holmes in
the franchise’s earlier installments. While there are still some mysteries for
Dee to solve in The Four Heavenly Kings,
emphasis has shifted more on the supernatural and the martial arts instead. Although
the original film may have had some basis in reality, by now the film series is
simply choosing the stories that will be most cinematic, especially when considering
what will provide the most special effects and mindless entertainment.

BlacKkKlansman has all of the subtlety
that its title would suggest, and feels nearly as pointlessly gimmicky as well.
One would think that Spike Lee was the perfect director to herald this project,
but gone are the days of Do the Right
Thing, or even Malcolm X. Although
BlacKkKlansman still has Lee’s
signature righteous anger over issues of race in America, the screenplay’s insistence
that we see the connection to our current political climate becomes overbearing.

Drug War is easily one of best entries
into the Chinese crime genre in recent years, so I was immediately skeptical of
the decision to remake it, especially a mere six years after the original film’s
release. Not only is the decision to remake a good film always a dangerous one
due to audience expectations, Drug War
also has a plot twist rendered ineffective by previous knowledge. While some of
the problems with this may be solved by the fact that Believer is a South Korean remake, ensuring a different national audience,
those who watch a lot of foreign films may still find more than a little bit
familiar in this one. But even with the largest twist of the film slightly
spoiled, Believer still managed to
improve on an already great film.

If ever there
was evidence that getting a film made is more about who you know than what you
can do, A Happening of Monumental
Proportions would be exhibit A. Filled to the brim with recognizable and
name actors, mostly an assembly line of glorified cameos, one can’t help but wonder
what they are all doing in a film with such an unimpressive script. The answer
comes with the realization that this unfocused ensemble comedy is the
directorial debut of character actor Judy Greer. Greer has had an impressive
career as a supporting actress, which is undoubtedly how she was able to get so
many fellow actors to commit to being in the first screenplay by Gary Lundy (another
working actor) that fails at every turn.

Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again is a shameless
excuse to shoehorn more ridiculous over-the-top renditions of ABBA songs into a
near non-existent story. That’s it. There is no need to consider this film’s
artistic merits, because the filmmakers didn’t make this effort. This movie is
a self-indulgent cash-grab, and one that effectively capitalized on an often
neglected audience demographic. It is the same reason that faith-based films
continue to thrive in the box office, regardless of quality, But the Mamma Mia sequel is far from a Christian
film, this time allowing us to see the flashbacks of Donna (played by Lily
James) as she sleeps with three men in a row.

It is ironic
that in creating a documentary about the narcissism of the entitled and
wealthy, filmmaker Lauren Greenfield chooses to make herself and her family a
part of the conversation. Fragmented doesn’t even begin to describe the film,
jumping around from theory to theory about the wealthy, Greenfield is more
concerned with shoehorning herself into the discussion than any thoughtful consideration.
One gets the impression that despite being a documentary about the character
flaws of the wealthy, Generation Wealthy
is mostly just an excuse for self-promotion.

Along with last
year’s Final Portrait, Stanley Tucci’s
bare-bones adaptation of James Lord’s memoir from his encounters with artist Alberto
Giacometti, Rodin seems to solidify a
trend in the depiction of the creative process of artists in progress. Often
painfully monotonous and undeniably obsessive, these films do not make the life
of an artist out to be glamorous, though indulgence seems to be key. Although
the narrative of Rodin covers the
crucial years of Auguste Rodin (Vincent Lindon), beginning with his rise to
fame in his 40s, there is far more consideration given to his personal/romantic
relationships.

Although Girls
vs. Gangsters is a sequel to a previously established Chinese franchise, most
American audiences are more likely to find it recognizable due to the similarities
in plot structure to the Hangover movies.
Besides a gender swap and a far more conservative approach to the content, Girls vs. Gangsters owes so much to the Hangover formula that derivative is the
only fair word to use in description. On the other hand, those who long for the
silliness of those stories within an innocuous female buddy comedy need look no
further.

The Witch Files
feels like a rejected CW teen series that was reworked into a low budget
independent film. And in case it isn’t clear, I don’t mean that as a
compliment. With a cast of flat teenage stereotypes played by attractive
mannequins standing in for actors, a nonsensical found-footage format, and
cheesy CGI effects, I was thankful for a run-time under 90-minutes. Even with
improved budget and cast, I don’t think I could have endured an entire season
of a Witch Files TV series.

Had Molly been a Hollywood film, it would
feel like a dozen other postapocalyptic sci-fi films. Add to that a teenage
protagonist with special supernatural abilities that may save the world, and
little about Molly doesn’t feel derivative.
The most original and impressive things about the film have to do with the
production rather than the final product. Not only is the scope of the film
more impressive due to the obvious budget limitations, but it also has the
unique distinction of being from the Netherlands.

Horror movies
are an indicator of their times, and there seems to be no better example in the
past decade than The Purge franchise.
Following the unexpected attacks of 9/11, The
Purge captured those anxieties in a home invasion thriller. And as the
sequels continued the narrative, they only became more political, with the last
installment utilizing a tagline that was blatantly borrowed from Donald Trump’s
political campaign slogan. The First
Purge is a prequel, but it is every bit as politically and socially
relevant, even if it lacks the focus of previous installments.

For those who haven’t
had their fill of Hollywood blockbusters and don’t want to wait until next
summer for more mindless entertainment, the Australian film industry has begun
to follow suit. Although they are not the only national cinema to imitate
America’s money-based industry of spectacle, the shared language makes the
Australian film industry and natural one for easy import. While most foreign
films are thought to bring American audiences respite from the typical
special-effects-driven narratives, Occupation
embraces them.

If nothing else,
Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom finally advances the narrative of the Jurassic
Park franchise beyond the usual creature feature thrills. Before the film’s halfway
mark, gone is the amusement park, destroyed by lava and forcing the story in a
new direction. Even the revival of the franchise with Jurassic World simply felt
like a derivative rehash of the original premise, but the latest sequel has
added an interesting moral question to the story. While the first film utilized
knowledge about cutting edge science to image the possibilities of cloning dinosaurs,
it is only with the latest film that these ideas have been advanced to the next
natural step.

Easily the most
confusing film since the original, I had no idea what was happening through
much of Phantasm IV: Oblivion. It does
the familiar plot structure lifted from the previous films in the franchise,
which mostly features Reggie hitting on young women he meets on his journey to
find/help Mike. There is creative gore and some beyond surreal sequences, with
none of the coherence from the previous two films. Fans of filmmaker Don
Coscarelli’s bizarre world may appreciate the continuation of carnage, but most
will recognize that the ideas that were once boldly original must continually
be reinvented, and Phantasm IV is not always successful in this endeavor.

Although it may mostly just be more of the same bizarre
supernatural horror as the first sequel, and in some ways it is an even more
blatant attempt to recapture some of the successful elements of the first film,
I tend to like Phantasm III more than any of the other sequels in the
franchise. Even though they had distribution established, Phantasm III
was made independently of a studio, allowing director Don Coscarelli to retain
his artistic freedom once again. This meant the return of A. Michael Baldwin,
as well as some of the franchise’s most graphic scenes of violence.

Despite a title
that sounds like a thriller or action vehicle of some sort, The Escape is as minimalistic as
filmmaking gets. It is a character study that only allows us an outside view of
the character. Although we spend nearly all of the running time with a single
character, it is possible to get to the end of the film without having much
insight into what is going on internally. The
Escape is singularly focused on the depression of a mother and wife in
London, but it only allows the audience a surface view of the emotional distress,
and the result is often less than sympathetic.

Although not
quite a sequel, Operation Red Sea is the
continuation of a franchise, of sorts, following up 2016’s Operation Mekong. The films don’t share characters or continue any storylines
from the previous film, but both are based on true stories of Chinese military
heroics and directed by action filmmaker Dante Lam. The films are both
patriotic, to the point of nearly feeling like recruitment videos for military
service, and are dedicated to creating realistic battle scenes.

Traffik may be well intentioned in its
message, but it is contradictorily sordid in its approach. While the film may
be book-ended with reminders of the ugly truth about sex trafficking in the United States,
most of the content in the film is far more interested in ridiculous B-film
thrills than an accurate depiction of the social issue of choice. Even more
disconcerting in a film about the buying and selling of women is the blatant
objectification of the female form along the way. There is nothing wrong with a
little eroticism, but steamy sex scenes and a constantly bra-less heroine just
feels tasteless in a movie about sex trafficking.

Ever since the
teen film re-emerged from the days of James Dean to the coming-of-age films of
the 1980s, the genre adopted a far franker discussion of sex. Sex and teen
films often go hand-in-hand now, and after nearly three decades of movies about
teenagers losing their virginity, one would think that there is nothing new
left to discover. Some reviewers have pointed out the gender reversal of the
typical sex comedy as the defining new element of Blockers, but I actually found the inclusion of the parental
figures a far more original element of the film. Not only is the film about the
teenagers, but an equal amount of time is spent with the parents as they come
to terms with their daughters growing up, in the most haphazard and comical
ways possible.

Flower sold itself as a coming-of-age
film, albeit one that’s primary goal seems to be creating a protagonist whose
amoral behavior is intentionally shocking. But as transparent as this character
development may be, it does little to prepare the audience for a complete shift
in tone and story in the final act. Flower
isn’t one movie, but two crammed into the same narrative, and the really sad
thing is how completely it manages to fail at both of them.

Some sequels are
never asked for, because the original was never so loved that it demanded more
screen time. But Pacific Rim Uprising
doesn’t feel like a sequel, despite a few minor characters returning. Instead,
it feels like a complete reboot of the idea, complete with new protagonists and
focus shifted even more towards escapist entertainment. And one would also have
to be extremely naïve not to realize the extent that Pacific Rim Uprising is tailor-made to be exported to the Asian
film markets. Despite the American cast, the Pacific Rim franchise is built upon the giant monster (Kaiju)
sub-genre that was first popularized in Japan.

Steven
Soderbergh is a director as comfortable making popcorn entertainment as he is
experimenting with the medium, and sometimes he even accomplishes these two
things simultaneously. Having already been one of the innovators of digital
cinema, Soderbergh’s decision to shoot Unsane
entirely on iPhones is not entirely surprising, although it also runs the risk
of being more distraction than asset to the narrative. Even though I respect
Soderbergh’s creativity, the approach in this film feels more like a gimmick,
which is even more disappointing by the fact that he is not even the first to
do this (Academy-Award-nominated Tangerine
was also shot on an iPhone in 2015).

If you watched
and loved the original “Will & Grace” series, there is plenty to get
excited about with their return. The writing is as witty as it ever was, and
the characters haven’t changed much despite the lengthy hiatus and the
inevitability of aging (at least outside of Hollywood). But this also may be something of
a double-edged sword, if only because the return of these characters basically
dismisses the resolution of the original series. If you truly cared about these
characters during their first run, the need to return them to a dysfunctional
state in order to create the necessary drama for the series feels a bit lazy.

I’ll admit, I
was skeptical of Love, Simon upon
first viewing the trailer. Arriving on the heels of last year’s award season,
which included a LGBT coming-of-age drama and an independent high school
comedy, the release of Love, Simon
felt perfectly timed, whether coincidental or opportunistic. Ironically, I
found myself enjoying Love, Simon
more than either of the award-season films it resembles. There is a sincerity
to this film which aligns it closer to a John Hughes film than any number of
other imitators we’ve had since the 1980s.

Long before
Roberto Benigni combined the tragedy of the Holocaust with the comedy of
physical humor in Life is Beautiful, French
filmmaker Claude Berri made his directorial debut with The Two of Us. Groundbreaking in its depiction of a terrifying time
through the filter of childlike wonder, The
Two of Us is sentimental and heartwarming without ever sacrificing a sense
of realism. Few films are able to give this period such respect without relying
on heavy melodrama and tragedy, but even fewer are able to capture the humor
without ignoring the tragedy.

Horror movies
seem to have the highest likelihood for sequels out of each of the genres. This
can require an uphill battle for the screenwriter, however, as most horror
movies end with the death of the villain. Although The Strangers is a unique horror movie in that none of the villains
were dispatched by the conclusion, the sequel has still reinvented the formula
somewhat. The first film built up the suspense by creating empathy for the
characters. That way the horror was tied to the audience caring for the
characters in danger, rather than any graphic blood or gore. Although the
premise of home invasion remains the same, the emphasis on what is important
has shifted from emotions to pure visceral thrills for the long-awaited sequel.

In the age of
digital copies and endless streaming options, there always seems to be something
to watch. This leaves only a few reasons remaining for actual physical copies
of films, and the latest release of the Jurassic
Park collection hits them all. The first reason is the anniversary of a movie’s
release, and this latest collection of the Jurassic
Park franchise coincides with the 25th anniversary of the first
groundbreaking film. The second reason for a re-release is to coincide with a
new installment in the franchise. This simultaneously gives fans the
opportunity to refresh their memories before Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom is released this summer, while also
serving as retail advertising. Finally, the last reason to choose a physical copy
over streaming is quality, and the 4K Ultra HD release is the best option for
that.

I mean, do I
really need to say it. I feel as though every critic—amateur and professional—has
already taken a shot at this film and the terrible trilogy that it completes. As
much as I would like to go against the grain, to have an original opinion, Fifty Shades Freed does not make it easy
for me. As bad as the last two films were, the last installment is something
even worse: boring.

In the latest
installment of a franchise that Universal has kept alive in their Home Entertainment
division far longer than anyone asked for, Tremors:
A Cold Day in Hell promises new twists, though it doesn’t always deliver. The
desert-dwelling creatures are found in the frozen terrain of the arctic tundra,
but even with a change in setting, the film mostly just provides more of the
same silly comedy-horror nonsense. Even the new setting rarely feels original,
as much of the movie takes place in an area of the arctic with absolutely no
snow, and it just ends up looking like every other Tremors film.

Originality is
not the strong suit of Den of Thieves,
but if it was going to be derivative, at least the film appears to be influenced
by good movies. The end result is an entertaining if mostly forgettable crime
film in the vein of Heat, The Town, and numerous other far better
films. It is a bit too long for the entire film to sustain the level of macho
energy that the cast tries to exude, and the action is too sparse for the
amount that these scenes are built up in the plot. But if you like movies about
skilled criminals or rule-breaking cops, there are worse choices for mindless entertainment.

Most horror
franchises stay alive due to the return of the monster, with a few rare
exceptions following the protagonist from the original narrative instead. Insidious: The Last Key continues its
story by instead returning to one of the supporting characters from the first
films, and while elements from the past films can still be found, it is clearly
an example of diminishing returns. In fact, the only notable thing about Insidious: The Last Key is the fact that
it may be the first example of a horror movie for the Me Too movement.

Braven is an old school action film, but
almost to a fault. The narrative has the simplicity of a lot of great 80s
action films, relying greatly on the masculinity of its star and the creativity
of its set pieces and fight choreography. While Braven rests easily on the persona of Jason Momoa, it is just a
shame that the film doesn’t now what to do with him. The basic premise of the
film and the action star all seem set up for success, and yet it never takes
off the way it should thanks to uninspired action.

Molly’s Game is a fitting choice for
Aaron Sorkin’s directorial debut, filled with the type of intelligent
characters and sharp dialogue that he is known for as a writer. Based on the
book by Molly Bloom, the film follows the true exploits of a former Olympic
skier who used her education and ambition to run a number of exclusive
high-stakes poker games in Los Angles and New York. When the FBI arrests her
for possible illegal activities in the games, Molly (Jessica Chastain) is
forced to defend herself with the help of criminal defense lawyer Charlie
Jaffey (Idris Elba).

Director Paul Thomas Anderson does not make
simple or easy films, and Phantom Thread
is no exception, defying any simply genre classification. On one hand it has
the feel of classic filmmaking, romantic and full of rich production design and
cinematography. On the other hand, the narrative is unpredictable and unique,
offering a vision of romance that often feels like a dark screwball comedy.
Though the tone is far more serious, this would make a great companion piece to
go with Anderson’s Punch-Drunk Love. Both
are movies about deep and sincere love between some of the most unconventional
cinematic couples.